16 December 2010

currently untitled abaca portfolio

This is my papermaking independent study final. I created a portfolio of translucent abaca sheets with inclusions. The fiber was beaten for over 8 hours, resulting in transparent sheets with a rattle (much like tracing paper). I created one sheet, then placed my inclusions. I collaged found photographs, cut into intricate patterns, with other handmade sisal paper (which I had chemically dyed red and teal using MX dye). I then created another sheet of abaca and couched it on top of the first, trapping the inclusions between the sheets of paper, which when pressed because a single sheet. I was working very much within my own system of mark making -- I had rules governing what shapes I was cutting and their locations. Overall I think the portfolio speaks to pattern and accumulation, similar to what most of my work has been about lately.